Local

New discovery released in Seminole County cold case

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Only Eyewitness News got a look at new evidence in a 15-year-old murder case that recently resulted in charges against a man accused of killing his girlfriend in Seminole County.

Rodney Bice was arrested in September after Channel 9 ran a story about the cold case involving Jacqueline Sheehan's murder.

On Friday, Bice waived his right to a speedy trial.

The victim's family told Channel 9 they have suspicions about why Bice would waive his right to quick trial. They believe Bice, who's being held at the Seminole County Jail, is hoping people will forget details in the case as April marks 16 years since Jacqueline Sheehan's death.

But Channel 9's Karla Ray obtained nearly 40 pages of new investigative discovery in the case and learned witnesses have vivid memories of how Bice and Jacqueline Sheehan were together.

Jacqueline Sheehan would have turned 47 on Wednesday and for the first time, her parents are speaking out about her killing.

According to the new discovery, Jacqueline Sheehan feared she would die at her boyfriend's hands, telling her then-brother-in-law on several occasions that Bice would end up killing her one day and that if she ever ended up dead, it would be because of him.

Bice's friend told police that Jacqueline Sheehan told him, "Rodney is going to take my kids or he's going to kill me." That was two weeks before her death in 1998.

The paperwork also shows Bice was allegedly violent with his new wife. The new wife told friends she believed Bice did kill Jacqueline Sheehan and that she slept with a knife under her pillow and kept a cellphone hidden under her mattress in case she had to call 911.

"I would just like to be there when he goes down," said Faye Sheehan.

"There's nothing we can do to get Jackie back, you know," said Jack Sheehan. "I just hope that that there will be closure."

A trial scheduling hearing for Bice is set to be held next week.